COLLAPSE AND EXPANSION STRUCTURE OF STORAGE BOX
A collapse and expansion structure of storage box includes a rectangular box body, multiple support boards, and a bottom board. The rectangular box body has two opposite first side walls and two opposite second side walls. The first and second side walls have lower ends connected to a flexible bottom surface and upper ends delimiting an opening. The first side walls are flexible and the second side walls are rigid. Each support board has an edge connected to an upper edge of the respective first side wall to make the support board rotatable with respect to the first side wall. The support boards have a length substantially equal to height of the first side walls. When positioned against the flexible first side walls, the support boards expand and support the box body. When rotated to a horizontal condition, the support boards allows of collapse of the box body.
The present invention generally relates to a collapse and expansion structure of storage box that is easy to operate and use.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ARTDue to the need for reduction of size in order to facilitate storage, various foldable storage boxes or containers are currently available. For example, some designs use flexible fabric materials to make a rectangular box. An upper horizontal bar is arranged along each of four top edges of the rectangular box. A lower horizontal bar is arranged along each of two opposite bottom edges of the rectangular box. Further, each of four vertical edges of the box is provided with a vertical bar. A predetermined spacing distance is formed between adjacent ends of the upper horizontal bars, between adjacent ends of the lower horizontal bars, and between ends of the vertical bars and upper and lower horizontal bars. Each vertical wall surface of the box forms diagonally crossing folding lines. With such a structure, the flexible box is supported by those vertical bars, upper horizontal bars, and lower horizontal bars to form a storage box for receiving and storing articles therein, and can be twisted and folded to form a flat configuration.
In some improved storage boxes, a lid is provided on the top of the box body of the storage box. A vertical support bar is set in each corner of the box body so that the support bars respectively support four corners of the lid.
However, the conventional storage boxes are composed of numerous parts and are thus complicated in structure, making it hard to operate, parts being easily lost, and manufacturing cost being high.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe primary objective of the present invention is to provide a collapse and expansion structure of storage box that is made up of fewer parts, has a simpler structure, and is easier to operate, whereby such a design makes the manufacturing cost reduced and alleviates the problem of parts of storage box being easily lost.
A feature of the present invention is that a box body of the storage box is made of a flexible fabric material. Some side walls of the box body are combined with rigid boards to show proper rigidity. The other side walls remain flexible. Support boards that are of proper rigidity are respectively connected to upper edges of the flexible side walls to allow the support boards to be respectively rotatable with respect to the side walls. When turned into the box body and positioned against the flexible side walls, the support boards expand and support the box body. When being rotated to a substantially horizontal condition, the support boards no longer hold the side walls and the flexible side walls are collapsible to reduce the overall size of the box body for easy storage.
Another feature of the present invention is that an individual bottom board is provided for being selectively positioned on a bottom surface of the box body. When the bottom board is put into the box body and positioned on the bottom surface, edges of the bottom board respectively engage and hold the vertical surfaces of the side walls at the lower edges thereof to thereby stabilize the expanded box body. When the bottom board is removed out of the box body, the box body is collapsible. The present invention also features a bottom board connected to an edge of one of the support boards so that the bottom board is rotatable with the support boards to a horizontal condition for collapsing the box body, or the support boards and the bottom board are rotatable into the box body to support the flexible side walls and the bottom surface of the box body to thereby expand and erect the box body
A technical solution according to the present invention comprises a rectangular box body, a plurality of support boards, and a bottom board. The rectangular box body comprises a pair of first side walls that are respectively set on two opposite sides and a pair of second side walls respectively located on the other two opposite sides. The two first side walls and the two second side walls have lower ends connected to a flexible bottom surface. The two first side walls are flexible. The two second side walls are rigid. The first side walls and the second side walls are foldable at the connection therebetween. Each of the support boards has an edge that is connected to an upper edge of each of the first side walls to make the support board rotatable with respect to the first side wall. The support boards have a length that is substantially equal to height of the first side walls. When turned into the box body and positioned against the first side walls, the support boards erect and support the first side walls. The bottom board is positioned on the bottom surface of the rectangular box body to engage and hold the vertical surfaces of the support boards and the second side walls at the lower edges thereof. The present invention sets the support boards in an erected condition to support the respective side walls and sets the bottom boards on the bottom surface of the box body, so as to expand, erect and support the box body. When the bottom board is removed out of the box body and the support boards are rotated to a substantially horizontal condition, the box body is allowed to collapse to a flat condition.
According to the present invention, an edge of the bottom board is connected to an edge of one of the support boards that is opposite to the edge connected to the box body, whereby the bottom board is rotatable with the support boards to get into the box body or to move to a substantially horizontal condition for collapsing the box body.
According to the present invention, the bottom board that is provided for being arranged inside the box body is an individual board that is separate from the box body.
Another technical solution of the present invention comprises a box body, a plurality of support boards, and a bottom board. The box body has four flexible side walls. The four side walls have lower ends that are connected to a flexible bottom surface. The side walls are foldable at the connections therebetween. The four side walls have upper ends delimiting an opening. Each of the support boards has an e an edge connected to an upper edge of each of the side walls of the box body to make the support board rotatable with respect to the side wall. The support boards have a length hat is substantially equal to height of the side walls, whereby the support boards, when turned into and respectively positioned against the side walls, erect and support the flexible side walls. The bottom board is positionable on the bottom surface of the rectangular box to have edges of the bottom board engaging and holding the support boards.
According to the present invention, a rigid top lid is selectively provided for being connected an upper edge of one of the side walls, whereby the top lid may selectively cover the opening of the box body.
The overall structure of the present invention is much simpler than the structure of the conventional foldable storage box, has a lower manufacturing cost, is easy to use, has an improved structural strength, and thus shows novelty and improvement over the conventional devices.
The foregoing objectives and summary provide only a brief introduction to the present invention. To fully appreciate these and other objects of the present invention as well as the invention itself, all of which will become apparent to those skilled in the art, the following detailed description of the invention and the claims should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the specification and drawings identical reference numerals refer to identical or similar parts.
Many other advantages and features of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example.
The following descriptions are exemplary embodiments only, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the following description provides a convenient illustration for implementing exemplary embodiments of the invention. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made in the function and arrangement of the elements described without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.
According to the present invention, to expand the storage box, as shown in
Further,
To expand the storage box according to the second embodiment, as shown in
Further, for the storage box according to the second embodiment shown in
It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together may also find a useful application in other types of methods differing from the type described above.
While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it is not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.
Claims
1. A collapse and expansion structure of storage box, comprising a rectangular box body, a plurality of support boards, and a bottom board, wherein the rectangular box body comprising a pair of first side walls that are respectively set on two opposite sides and a pair of second side walls respectively located on the other two opposite sides, the two first side walls and the two second side walls having lower ends connected to a flexible bottom surface, the two first side walls and the two second side walls having upper ends delimiting an opening, the two first side walls being flexible, the two second side walls being rigid, each of the support boards having an edge that is connected to an upper edge of each of the flexible first side walls to make the support board rotatable with respect to the first side wall, the support boards having a length that is substantially equal to height of the first side walls, whereby the support boards, when positioned against the flexible first side walls, expand and support the box body and the support boards, when being rotated to a horizontal condition, allows of collapse of the box body.
2. The collapse and expansion structure of storage box according to claim 1, wherein the bottom board has an edge that is connected to an edge of one of the support boards that is opposite to the edge connected to the box body.
3. The collapse and expansion structure of storage box according to claim 1, wherein the box body comprises four flexible side walls, the four side walls having lower edges that are connected to a flexible bottom surface, each of the support boards having an edge connected to an upper edge of each of the side walls of the box body to make the support board rotatable with respect to the side wall, the support boards having a length hat is substantially equal to height of the side walls, whereby the support boards, when respectively positioned against the side walls, erect and support the flexible side walls and the support boards, when being rotated to a horizontal condition, allowed of collapse of the box body into a flat condition.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 24, 2011
Publication Date: Feb 28, 2013
Inventor: WEN-TSAN WANG (Taipei City)
Application Number: 13/216,252
International Classification: B65D 5/36 (20060101); B65D 5/355 (20060101);